Shades of Green
by lollipopdiaries
Summary: This one specifically has an established Olicity in it. LL fans, a bit of redemption and a HEA for LL too. It features our kickass girls Sara and Nyssa. It's also heartbreaking for Oliver...you will know why if you read on.
1. Chapter 1

**_As usual, I do not own The Arrow, nor am I in anyway related to CW or DC. I am just part of this fandom. An Olicity shipper (so you know ALL my stories will be Olicitycentric) and an amateur writer expressing my love for the fandom._**

**_Oh, for those following me in tumblr, I posted this story there before..that's why this will probably be familiar. For those who want to check-out all my stories, especially those not posted here in fanfiction, you can follow either of the two for the links:_**

**_Twitter: lollipopsays_**

**_Tumblr: everythinglollipop_**

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><p><em>SHADES OF GREEN – It features the varying degrees of friendship between Felicity, Sara, Nyssa and yes Laurel and how that is tested in a highly strung environment. Oliver, Roy and Diggle are also predominantly featured in the story, as if you would expect anything else if you've read at least one of my stories. Oh, and this is an established Olicity story.<em>

_Let me warn you however that I have NOT been a happy camper during the last three episodes of The Arrow (3.2 to 3.4), and despite the writers attempt to humanize Laurel, I'm just not nor will I ever be a believer in the character (to separate from the actress playing her), I find all her scenes as trying hard and throw away. _

_Now why is she in this story, because again if you are familiar with all my stories, I have never deliberately written her in, it's because she is integral to the development of the plot and how the story progresses. Before the Laurel fans go up in arms and boycott this story, I would like to clarify that I am not bashing the actress, in fact I do not HATE the character, I just very obviously do not LOVE her, this is largely due to how the character is written – shallow, self-centered and almost always desperate for attention, a far second to her kickass sister._

_Having detailed my exact sentiments, I now live it up to you to decide if you want to read this or not. If you love Olicity, then I implore you to read my other two fics: Exposed and Spotlight, both Chapter 14's posted. If you already have, and are currently following both….much, much love._

_In the meantime, here goes this story. Crossing my fingers…. _

**Arrow Short Stories 01: SHADES OF GREEN**

**Chapter 1**

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><p>Oliver had raced through the streets of Starling at breakneck speed as soon as Diggle had called him carelessly jumping off his Ducati in front of an official looking police do not cross this line yellow tape meant to keep curious onlookers on the outside to prevent them from interfering with police business.<p>

"I'm sorry sir, you can't do that," a neophyte policeman called out to Oliver which Oliver naturally ignored as he rushed toward the two men talking animatedly beside a police van.

"Diggle!" Oliver screamed as he spotted Diggle. Diggle waved Oliver over to him as Captain Lance placed a tired hand to the bridge of his nose.

"Why am I not surprised. Nice of you to join us Queen," Captain Lance greeted Oliver sarcastically.

Oliver ignored Lance and turned to Diggle, "what happened exactly, are all four of them really inside?"

Lance stepped in and answered Oliver, "both my daughters are inside, as is Ms. Smoak and my daughters' friend Nyssa along with approximately seven to twelve others not counting the hostiles, still undetermined at this time. We got the notice from a 911 call that was placed and cut about twenty minutes ago."

"I was suppose to pick-up Felicity in about," pausing to look at his watch, "fifteen minutes, Roy is off with Thea today. I was twenty minutes early, traffic was light today. Lance and the police where already here cordoning off the area. That's when I called you," Digg continued.

Oliver heaved a breath and rubbed his face with his hand, "Digg…."

"I know Oliver," Diggle answered Oliver squeezing his shoulder.

"What am I missing?" Lance frowned and looked between Oliver and Diggle.

Oliver looked at Diggle who gave him a miniscule nod before he faced Lance fully, "Felicity's pregnant. We just found out a couple of days ago."

Lance's temple creased further, "I didn't know she was seeing anyone? Do you think it's wise to give her baby daddy a call? Are they together?"

Oliver closed his eyes and exhaled, "I'm the father…and yes, Felicity and I are together. It's just not public knowledge."

Lance reacted instantaneously, "what the hell Queen, this is Felicity we are talking about."

Oliver leaned with his back against the Police van, "I know you don't have a very high opinion of me what with my history but, I love her and she loves me, it wasn't planned but it isn't unwanted, the pregnancy I mean."

"This day just keeps getting better," Lance shook his head. He looked up noticing that the sun was still out, it was barely mid-afternoon. He had been through a lot during the year. His near fatal attack had given him time to reflect and analyze a lot of things.

Sara and Nyssa that was one thing he took some time to reflect on. His Sara being alive, being the expert fighter she became, being a member of the League of Assassins, a scary thought he didn't want to dwell on. Just the name itself should put the fear of God in all its targets. Sara, his youngest daughter leaving just when he got her back to rejoin the League and last but not the least, Sara and Nyssa, what was up with that? Lance had known Sara had hooked up with Oliver when she first got back but apparently she was with Nyssa first then got back together with her girlfriend in the end. Sara with Nyssa had visited him twice in the span of a year in between assignments or whatever they were called when the League gave them missions. This was supposed to be the third visit. Well, third time was a charm, or so they said.

Laurel Lance, his older daughter, the same one Oliver Queen was originally supposed to marry and live happily ever after with before everything had happened. According to Laurel, Oliver and she had finally made peace and had both moved on, she as ADA for Starling City, fighting crime from the comfort of her office and he apparently moving on with Felicity Smoak, what was up with that?

Felicity Smoak, every time the name of the young lady was mentioned, it brought an unconscious smile to his lips. The girl had brought out protective feelings in him, she was like a third daughter to him and wasn't it just a coincidence that the girl who brought out fatherly emotions in him ended up with Oliver Queen too.

And finally Oliver Queen, ladies man extraordinaire, billionaire and heir, who would have thought that boy would do a complete 180 and turn into the man even he had come to admire and respect. Because despite what Oliver Queen thought, his alter ego wasn't as veiled. Sure one had to have inside information and an inquisitive mind plus there were just too many coincidences, too many to be ignored. If the man chose to believe that he was clueless about realizing who the Arrow's real identity was, then so be it. He had repeatedly called on the Arrow during the year for help in crimes that had shades of grey in them when it came to keeping within the boundary of the law. He had always using the pre-agreed method of contact. Never had he hinted that he knew that Oliver Queen and the Arrow where one and the same person.

And finally, here they were all now, the man he had immediately wanted to reach out too when he first realized it was his daughters and Felicity inside with a few others was standing just a few feet away from him with no inkling that he knew what he knew about his identity. So he decided to test the boundaries of how Oliver Queen would react.

He eyed Oliver for a few seconds then trained his sight on Diggle for a few more before saying, "look, we will do everything we can to make sure everyone comes out of this unscathed, hell I have motivation to make sure that everyone makes it out in one piece, I have both my daughters inside," pointing in the direction of the coffee shop, "but, I'm not going to turn down help from the outside if it's volunteered."

Oliver locked his jaw, "are you referring to the Arrow and his team? I know Felicity is part of his team and I think he would be more than willing to help but from what I know he works best under the cover of darkness. I…." Oliver exhaled, "I'm sorry Captain Lance, I'm just a bit," Oliver started to pace up and down before he continued, "I can't lose….you and me both, we have so much to lose if this goes south. Laurel and Sara are also important to me. I've met Nyssa too," quickly looking at Diggle making sure he was listening so they would have consistent cover stories, "Sara introduced her to me a few months back. And did I mention Felicity is pregnant," rubbing a hand to his face again.

Lance saw how distraught Oliver was as he took three steps forward to pat Oliver in the back, "why don't you have the police and our friend handle this. You being here, it's already attracting more than enough attention, it might work against us if the hostile inside put two and two together and this quickly escalates into a ransom demand. As of yet, they haven't gotten in touch with us. Why don't you take your bodyman with you and either park yourselves inside the police van or step back over the police barrier. I promise to get in touch with you when we have updates."

Oliver exhaled again and weighed Lance's suggestion. If Lance was going to call the Arrow, it would be in their best interest to not be within seeing distance of Lance. But then, he couldn't not be here at this moment, the stakes were pretty high for him not to be close by. Eyeing Diggle he made his decision, "I will stay inside the van, your right about attracting attention," he told Lance. "Diggle, I was suppose to meet a friend in a few minutes, can you take care of that for me," the silent message between them for Diggle to get in touch with Roy and bring him up to speed on what was happening since they will definitely need him for later.

Diggle picked on the silent message right away knowing that Oliver wouldn't leave his spot any time soon considering where Felicity was.

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><p>"I won't say it again, everyone face down on the floor, bags and all phones and gadgets in front of you. Wouldn't want to put a bullet in any of you this early," the leader of the group repeated.<p>

Felicity turned her head to the right, cheek pressed to the floor, as she made eye contact with Sara who was beside her sister Laurel and Nyssa. The four of them together with at least ten other people were currently hostages of what seemed like a team of four heavily tattooed and heavily armed men inside a nondescript coffee shop in the Glades.

It had been almost a year after The Arrow team had defeated Slade and his army of mirakuru induced soldiers and despite the awkward beginning, Felicity and Laurel had made enough progress in their tentative friendship to consider themselves friends, not in the same league as the tight friendship within Team Arrow where Laurel was still an outsider, but enough so that they didn't need Oliver stepping in every time.

Felicity wasn't as obtuse as Laurel thought she was. In the beginning, after Laurel had discovered Oliver's secret and after the Slade fiasco, she knew Laurel had renewed interest in starting up a relationship with Oliver again. She had give Oliver several hints. And it had been awkward for all of them to say the least.

Felicity was also recovering from having her heart played with, with Oliver's 'I love you' and his hot and cold attitude. She had taken the high road and had given Oliver the space he needed, space for self-assessment as well as the opportunity to kick start his romance with Laurel once again if that was what he wanted. She had been more than obvious in rejecting the little touches Oliver made, the shoulder squeezes, the hand in the small of her back, the playing with the tailend of her ponytail. She had shied away from all these, letting Oliver know that despite her being physically there for the Team, things had changed between them.

Felicity looked once again at Sara. Sara and Nyssa had visited twice already in the span of a year, this being their third. Sara had tried to be there as much as she could for her father who had to undergo a serious operation right after she had first left to rejoin the League of Assassins with her girlfriend Nyssa but the visits had been a couple of days at a time given the schedule the league maintained.

After Slade had been defeated and imprisoned in Lian Yu, crime had hit an all time low in Starling City. Starling's citizens had taken it upon themselves to work across social and geographical boundaries which allowed the City to recover faster allowing for basic services and institutions to be rebuilt just a few months after the siege led by Slade that had almost resulted in the leveling of the City to the ground.

Queen Consolidated, a casualty of the siege was currently undergoing financial restructuring in large part due to Walter Steele stepping in with the backing of Starling Bank which had Walter at the helm.

After a series of Board Meetings and months of backdoor negotiations, Oliver Queen was back on top as CEO of QC with Felicity Smoak once again rejoining QC alongside Oliver but this time as head of IT, a position she now held officially for two months.

It had taken six months after Slade, one month after little Digglet had been born and two weeks after he had a final heart to heart with Laurel about where he stood when Oliver had finally cornered her inside the lair for a talk, as he put it.

And by talk, apparently Oliver meant, being at the receiving end of a mind blowing kiss that was anything but platonic. Only Oliver would forego the foreplay of words to clarify his intention with a deliberate action in the form of slamming his tongue deep into her throat. At the end of it, he had pulled her up the stairs and outside the lair, taken her car keys and brought her to his place to cook dinner for her.

He had said no words but at the same time he said a lot with his actions that night. It had taken him two months to finally say the words again, the same one he had uttered almost carelessly the first time in the foyer of the Queen mansion. His chosen venue to say those meaningful words again didn't help. He was in the middle of a mission and had been shot, again. She had alternated between shock and dread during that hour. By the time Oliver had been cleared by Diggle as out of immediate danger, Felicity's emotions were on overdrive, punching Oliver several times on his chest for scaring here until he had lean in to kiss her and say the words again, this time not breaking eye contact.

Things had finally changed that night. Felicity had finally said the words back. She knew that he knew how she felt, how she had always felt about him. And he had asked her several times to say the words back to him, but she had always held back, until tonight. Tonight was the first time since they were officially together that he had almost died. So tonight was a turning point for both of them. From then on, they had been very vocal about their emotions and very deliberate about their actions.

So yes, when Felicity had found out she was pregnant four days prior and after a day of worrying how to break the news to Oliver, she finally just blurted it out in her typical fashion when Oliver had questioned why she suddenly had an aversion to red wine. They had visited the doctor the next day and gotten the confirmation they needed. Oliver's reaction to the confirmation was all she needed to bring her to a place of sheer bliss and unparalleled contentment.

The lunch today was supposed to be the opportunity to share the news of her pregnancy with her friends who she knew would be happy for her. Despite the weirdness of the situation, Laurel and Sara being exes of her baby daddy and boyfriend, she appreciated that fact that this group of girls next to Diggle and probably Thea, who Oliver still had the share the happy news with, would welcome the development with open arms, or at least most of them would.

She had barely been able to share the news with them, just finishing up the embraces and hugs, when the gunmen had stormed the coffee shop.

As she made eye contact with Sara, she knew Sara and Nyssa would help her protect the child that was growing inside of her at all cost. Not only for her or Oliver's sake, but because this child symbolized a new tomorrow for all of them, from out of the darkness and destruction came new life, this child represented everything they had fought for, a better tomorrow for the future generation.

She had noticed that Laurel had froze then stayed quiet for a few minutes before she had mouthed her congratulations stiffly. Felicity had expected that, Laurel had still not recovered from the brush-off she got from Oliver. She was resigned no doubt to the reality of Oliver and Felicity together, but she had been slow in accepting it whole-heartedly. She hoped that when it came to it, she could rely on Laurel if need be.

The gunmen had been wearing ski masks when they first burst into the coffee shop effectively covering their faces. It became apparent that they were all professionals or at least that they had semblance of military training given the discipline they had displayed and the recognition of authority they placed on the one person who was their appointed leader.

Before they had demanded that the occupants of the shop all proceed to the center of the room and divest themselves of all their gadgets, packs and bags, Felicity had been able to press a pre-assigned number on her phone that connected her to 911. While she did not have the time to talk to an operator she hoped the call could connect and the operator would have been alert enough to recognize the reason for the distress call.

It was a split second decision for her to call 911 instead of Oliver Queen or Diggle who were both also on her speed dial list, but given the circumstances and knowing that Diggle would be picking her up in a few minutes as previously arranged, Oliver had all but insisted that if he could not do the chauffer services himself, Diggle or Roy, who now assumed the official function as her driver/bodyguard who was currently on a day-off of his duties to be with Thea, would chauffer her around.

Felicity had argued with Oliver until she was literary red but to no avail. Oliver had not budged from his decision in as so far as her protection was concerned. Now more than ever, with a little Queen on the way, he had put his foot down. Realizing that Oliver's reaction was due to the fact that he wouldn't totally get over his need to ensure the safety of those he loved, Felicity had finally relented. Her motherly instincts had also seen the logic of his position.

Sara had squeezed her hand, shaking Felicity out of her wondering thoughts and brought her back to the present, "ADA Laurel Lance, defender of the weak and upholder of the rule of law. Is the name Fred James familiar to you?"

Felicity could hear Laurel's breath hitch at the statement. She also felt Sara move to her right, presumably to be closer to her sister, as if to protect her from the harsh words of their captors.

"Ah, I see that it is," the leader of the group continued. "You see," increasing the volume of his voice so everyone else could hear, "the reason all of you are here today, your bodies pressed to the floor, is because of one reckless assistant district attorney, an ADA who consistently uses shortcuts rather than good old fashion hardwork to get her job done. The same one who had my little brother, Fred James imprisoned for twenty years for a crime he clearly did not commit. The same one who died in prison, two weeks ago, the kicker of it all was she knowingly knew she had the wrong man but pushed forward anyway."

"No, I didn't know until it was too late. The case was gaining ground. It became a high profile case. The evidence pointed to him. It was too late, too late to back down," Laurel defended.

"So instead you knowingly prosecuted the wrong man, and he wasn't the only one. Every single one of us, pointing to his comrades, they had someone who was wrongly imprisoned too. And guess who they all had in common, you!" the head of the group continued.

"No that's not true. Not all of my cases are the same. I work hard, I work hard," Laurel defended herself.

"Sure you do. In between binges of booze and drugs, you do. Don't think that we didn't check on that, clearly, you haven't been doing a stellar job."

Sara and Felicity both gasped at the information. They had talked about it once, during Sara's last visit, they had started to notice little things. Shaking hands, excessive fidgeting, shortened attention spans. But Laurel had camouflaged it all, defending that her work was taking a toll on her. It had not been the first time, she had always reverted back to her bad habits.

You won't get away with this. There are a lot of witnesses," Laurel answered, her voice shaking despite her fighting words.

The leader of the group laughed, "that's what you do best. Hide behind the law. If you think a battalion of ill equipped and poorly trained policemen would stop me, stop us, then Ms. Lance, I assure you, you are not only naïve in believing in your justice system. You also have misplaced trust in the ability of your police force. Oh, I know that your father is the Captain of the force, but even he can only do so much against me and my team. Don't be deceived by our numbers, this is not a spur of the moment operation."

"If she is the only reason that you are all here, then maybe you can let the rest of us go," the brave voice of one of the other hostages called out.

The leader gave a signal to one of the other captors to pull up the man in his early 20's from his prone position before he was pushed to his knees in front of their leader who bent forward before he answered, "one way or another ADA Laurel Lance dies today. Whether she had some company on the other side or not, depends not only on her cooperation but on you and everyone else here following every single thing we will be telling you to do. Now, did I say you could speak?"

"No…" the once brave voice faltered.

"That's what I'm talking about. Now, the next one who moves, talks or makes a noise…well let's just say, you've been warned. Now go back and lie face down again!" the leader told the man.

Without warning, the captor who had originally pulled up the man from his prone position butted the edge of his assault rifle on the side of the head of the man making the man lose consciousness instantaneously, his face bloody as he landed four feet from Felicity.

"Now," the leader of the group continued, "we are unfortunately under time constrain so we have to get this over and done with, "if you will Ms. Lance get up and join me right here," pointing to a spot in front of him.

Sara moved in front of her sister, Laurel for her part did not respond to the command of the leader.

"You really are quite stubborn Ms. Lance. I will ask you one last time. If you do not move, then you will force my hand. I will extract punishment for every time you disobey me on your fellow hostages. Who it will be…well, to everyone else, Ms. Lances' lack of cooperation will be the reason some if not all of you will either die today or be injured. Ms. Lance, how would it feel to have the blood of everyone in this room in your hands, all because you tried to be a girl scout," turning toward Laurel the leader started again, "now Ms. Lance, if you will?"

One of the other captors started to walk toward Laurel again. Felicity felt a hand squeeze again from Sara and then a very subtle nod before all hell broke loose. Sara and Nyssa were suddenly on their feet engaging the captor who had stepped toward Laurel earlier, gaining the upper hands initially by disarming him before gunfire erupted and shouts run out.

It took all of ten maybe fifteen seconds all together, but it felt longer. When the smoke cleared, Felicity and Laurel were surprised to find themselves huddled together sitting down on the floor, one of their captors definitely dead a foot away from them face up. But what both Felicity and Laurel saw almost at the same time was Sara also on the floor clutching her chest which was dripping copious amounts of blood, Nyssa about five feet away clutching on to her stomach and leg, also bloodied.

"Now look what you made us do!" the leader of the group shouted at Laurel.

The two other members of the group secured Nyssa by tying her to a cement post in the middle of the coffee shop with sturdy ropes that they had apparently brought with them unmindful of Nyssa injuries. The leader had stepped heavily into the bloodied chest of Sara further aggravating her injuries and making Sara let out an unguarded cry. The leader was wise enough to read the situation knowing that the two ladies had training and had to be dealt with military precision equal to how they would normally secure and treat their enemies.

As soon as the two were satisfied with how they had secured Nyssa, they went to the aid of their leader this time to secure Sara, again ignoring her injury.

The leader finally stepped toward their fallen comrade to confirm that he was indeed very dead turning once more toward Laurel.

"I warned you," pointing an aggressive finger at Laurel, "you really are self-centered and have no sense of compassion for the lives of others, prepared to risk everyone else's life. Their deaths," pointing to Sara and Nyssa, will be in your hands. From their injuries, that one," gesturing to Nyssa, "has a better chance of living though the day, "that one however," gesturing to Sara, "well let's just say, give or take an hour or two, that's the thing with chest injuries, particularly those very close to the heart, time is of the essence."


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: I will be very honest…I thought about abandoning this story plot for a few days primarily because I hit a road block in writing the second chapter. Laurel, unlike the other characters I can relate to easily I will admit is really hard to write without making her out as a total bitch. But in the end, I think I found a compromise on how to attack her character. _**

**_If you are reading this first before you jumped to the chapter below then applause for you…you will be in for a surprise following how chapter 1 ended. Don't kill me please…_**

**_As usual I do not own anything related to Arrow but if for some reason they force me to be part of the brainstorming team, I will gladly accept it with open arms._**

**_Oh, and I do appreciate comments/reviews, favorites, follows…I love interactions in twitter (I even created a twitter account exclusively for my ships), so please follow me – lollipopsays._**

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><p><strong><em>SHADES OF GREEN<em>**

**_Chapter 2_**

"Oh my God!" Laurel woke up in a sweat. Her dream was so vivid. She wasn't surprised to find that she had tears in her cheeks as she tried in vain to bring her breathing back to normal level. It took her a few moments before she wobbly got out of bed and into her bathroom washing her face to clear the remainder of her dream from her mind.

She took a minute to stare at her face in the mirror. Her cheeks had sunk, her eyes were bloodshot. Her hands were shaking as she glanced down at them. She defended her state to her replica staring back at her as a consequence of her hard work and dedication to her job. Finally, after months of struggle, she had been given a break as an assistant district attorney, despite privately feeling overwhelmed she had pushed forward and thought she had been doing wonderfully in the past four months.

Her Dad was back in active duty, promoted as a result of the Slade siege. He was now Captain of the police force. Sara had come back twice to visit during the past year with Nyssa in tow. Although that had been awkward for a time, they had made peace with the reality that her sister and Sara were together and on top of that, they were assassins of the top caliber kind.

Laurel had been misplaced for several months after the siege. Although she would never admit it, she was never good with upheavals in her life. She was enough of a drama queen to coat everything that had happened to her in the last seven years as everyone else's fault. That she was a victim of circumstances.

But she was also strong in her own way. She had made something of herself. She had counted on that strength to carry her despite the reality that several major events had made it almost impossible. So she used alternative coping methods. Drugs and booze, more booze than drugs. But she had started to clean up her act, get her life back in order.

She just slipped from time to time. She blinked again, her mind replaying part of her dream. Her sister and Nyssa and the armed men who were taunting her for doing a lackluster job, then her thoughts returned to Felicity being pregnant with Oliver child. It was just a dream. She reminded herself, just a dream as she open her medicine cabinet and took out a few pills to swallow. It was just a dream…a very bad dream. Almost running to her living room where she kept a supply of booze.

She heard her phone beep with a message and slowly stood up to go back to her bedroom still holding the bottle she had quickly grabbed. Unlocking her phone to read the message, Sara was visiting tomorrow. Her breath caught, it wasn't happening. Her dream wasn't going to be a reality as she took another long swig of booze. Another beep went off this time it came from an assistant in her office reminding her of a case she had a meeting for in an hour.

Laurel stood up again, tossing down the remainder of the bottle.

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><p>Felicity woke up and automatically stretched her arm to reach out for the man who slept beside her, missing his warmth. After a few taps she realized she was alone in bed and finally open an eye spotting her man brooding as he looked out her small window.<p>

She stood up, she knew he would have sensed that she was awake and up but he remained still just gazing out the window. She took the last few steps so she could wrap her hands around him waist giving his naked back butterfly kisses.

Oliver's only response was securing her arms tighter around his waist.

"What's wrong?" Felicity finally asked.

Oliver exhaled heavily before he turned around to face her. She searched his eyes for any clue finally realizing what was troubling him when she felt his palms remain flat on her tummy. She repositioned her hands on top of his.

"I thought you were okay with this," she asked him suddenly unsure.

Oliver closed his eyes before answering, "I am. There is no one else I would have wanted to have this with except you." He suddenly sunk down on his knees in front of her circling her waist with his arms, his lips on her tummy.

He started to talk to her tummy, "I am also scared. Scared of what may happen. It was hard enough when it was just you and me, even if we both agreed to keep our relationship private, I still had nightmares about losing you, but being together, here, every night, knowing that I have one less thing to worry about since you are with me every night, it helped a lot."

He kissed her tummy again before he looked up, "but this baby, it changes everything for us. You've made me very happy, never doubt that. After what I have been through, this….." kissing her tummy again, "this is a miracle, you are both my miracles. Both of you are my world now, I can't, I won't be…."

Felicity had kneeled down beside him, her hands on his cheek, "I'm scared too. For reasons very different from yours. I'm scared I wouldn't be a good mother. That I'd go shopping and forget him in the store or that I won't be able to tell our son is sick or I'll mess up some other way. I graduated top of my class at MIT, I know computers like the back of my hand, but I don't know anything about raising a child."

"Hey, hey…" Oliver leaned in to kiss her acknowledging that they both had their fears, both of which were valid.

"We are quite a pair aren't we," Felicity tried to smile weakly through tears.

Oliver repositioned them so she was now seated between his legs on the floor of Felicity's bedroom, his arms around her, "I love you, I know I don't say it much. But I do, the day you finally made the choice to give me a chance, a chance I may not have deserved after the way I treated you. I swore that I would do everything in my power to deserve you."

Felicity leaned back so her back was cradled in his chest, "you were always the superhero I was destined to end up with."

Oliver squeezed his Felicity even tighter. His thoughts bringing him back to that day she finally gave into him.

_"__No, no, no…Oliver…don't you dare! Don't you even think of dying on me! I swear to God!" Felicity started to punch his chest repeatedly until she heard a very slight whimper._

_"__Oliver…Oliver!" Felicity started to shout frantically again._

_"__Felicity, give me room to take care of Oliver's injury." Diggle was working like a madman. "Roy, I need blood, get me the box of supplies, now!" _

_Roy and ran around the lair unmindful that he was acting like Diggle's slave while Felicity just continued to alternate between talking and shouting at Oliver while holding his hand._

_"__Felicity, I need you to press you hand down here while I work on stitching him up here. Felicity! I need your a-game," Diggle mildly scolded her to jolt her out of her trance._

_"__That's okay Digg, let me help you. I think my brother would appreciate it more if Felicity just continued to hold his hand," Thea interjected, squeezing Felicity's shoulder before asking Diggle for further instructions._

_After everything that had happened, Thea had come back to them. It had taken four months for all the secrets to come out on both sides, Oliver and his secrets, and Thea and her secrets. They had both come clean with one other, Malcolm Merlyn and the Arrow. Everything was now out in the open. In the end, Thea had embraced her new calling as member of Team Arrow working side by side with her brother, Diggle, Roy and Felicity._

_Felicity had still been working with Ray Parker until a few months ago when his agenda had been revealed and after another upheaval in QC, Oliver Queen was now back as CEO. While Felicity had continued to work in QC, continuing on her position as division head, it had taken sometime before Oliver and she had recovered their footing. They had continued to skirt around their non-relationship. And this time, it wasn't Oliver who hesitated, it was Felicity._

_Oliver finally accepted that she was what he needed in his life, she was his life. The Laurel's of the world, they meant nothing to him. He promised not only himself, but his interfering sister who had come to love Felicity as much as he had, that he would take his time with Felicity, give her the space she needed._

_This latest mishap, he getting shot again, this was the final straw that finally broke Felicity's resistance._

_She didn't care that Diggle, Roy and Thea could hear her, "Oliver Jonas Queen, I love you! I have always loved you! I'm sorry I was being stubborn. I'm sorry I was scared. I promise you, the moment you wake up, I will tell you I love you back. I need you to be strong for us, I need you!"_

"He?" Oliver asked her.

"What?' Felicity answered him confused.

"Our baby, you called him a he. Are we having a boy?"

Felicity bit her lip, "Oliver, I'm only six weeks along. I don't think anyone can tell yet. It just seemed right. A little you running around. God, he's going to be an armful isn't he?"

Oliver laughed, "I wasn't that bad."

"I think others are better judges of that than you."

"Well, with you as his," emphasizing the his, "mother, I'm sure he will be the best and most behaved child in the world."

"I wasn't always like this you know. I once had a rebel side in me," Felicity answered him cheekily.

"And don't I know it. Your ex turned out to be even worse off than any of my exes."

"Are we really going to talk about exes now…."

"No we aren't, I have other things in mind right now," Oliver proceeded to lift her in his arms and gently lower her back in her bed.

* * *

><p>"You know, I still don't understand why you and Felicity don't move back into the Mansion. I mean it's empty now," Thea asked her brother.<p>

"Speedy, why don't you move back there," Oliver asked Thea.

Thea looked around her modern apartment that was overlooking the city, "I like it here. I've been happiest here. I have my own space, I have my boyfriend with me," at Oliver's scowling face, "which I realized wasn't to wisest thing to mention to you, and I have you here. Although really, in the last three months, you been here all of," pretending to count her fingers, "zero nights, which I totally understand. You wanting to be with Felicity day and night, but, we've always known the Queen mansion would eventually be where you would bring up your family, carry on the Queen line."

Oliver eyed his sister with a narrowed look as if she knew something, "what are you talking about."

Thea glanced at him exasperatedly, "you do plan to marry Felicity and raised a family with her right? You're not just fooling around with her," Thea started to become angry, "because I swear to God, you're letting the best thing that happened to you slip through your fingers!"

Oliver raised his hands in defeat, "calm down speedy, I know that Felicity is the best thing that ever happened to me as you so eloquently put it. And yes, she is the one for me. But, I don't know about moving back into the Mansion. I'd have to ask Felicity about that, we have to talk about things like that now."

Thea smiled at her brother proudly, "you really have grown up a lot brother," tapping his chest playfully.

Oliver rolled his eyes at his sister, 'how about some lunch? Felicity is busy, meeting up with Sara and Nyssa who are in town…and Laurel, for lunch today."

"So I'm the poor substitute for your preferred lunch partner," Thea huffed. "Isn't it weird that all your exes are friends, or I think they are friends. Although in truth, I catch Laurel sometimes giving Felicity this weird stare," cringing as she said it.

Oliver gave a scoff, "I asked her about it once. You know Felicity, she doesn't have a bad bone in her body. She's always been okay with Sara, Laurel…well…Felicity is trying to meet her halfway. They work together in some cases, Felicity tries to help Laurel out with information. As long as Felicity is comfortable with it, I'm fine with it."

"Aha," Thea gave him a look.

"Fine, I'll talk to her about it. But really, I came here because I wanted us to have lunch. I have some news for you."

* * *

><p>Laurel was stressing about the lunch, alternating between inventing a reason so that she wouldn't be able to join them and just talking herself into believing that what she dreamed last night was really just that, a dream.<p>

She was in her office, after talking to a client for a new case for two hours on top of her disturbed night, she really wanted nothing better than to crack open another bottle and booze up. But this was her office, it was sacred environment.

After a minute, she gave into the temptation, opening her bottom drawer for a fresh bottle of booze. She just needed a glass...maybe two.

* * *

><p>"Oh my God Ollie!" Thea pushed back her chair and embraced her brother warmly unmindful of the restaurant crowd.<p>

Oliver hugged his sister back. He knew she would be happy for him, she had been nothing but supportive of him during the last few months.

"I'm going to be an Aunt!" Thea once again squealed in delight.

Oliver hushed his sister. He didn't want something like that known in public yet. Felicity and he had been together for three months now, but they had kept their relationship private, Felicity's decision not his. Because once she was in his life, he wanted to shout it to the whole world. But Felicity, always the cautious one, wanted it to be quiet and private for a few months. He had a suspicion that she still had that miniscule insecurity in the back of her mind that one day he would backtrack. He tried to assure her every day of their life that he was in it forever.

"Ollie," Thea started as she sat down again, "this keeping it quiet and private is not going to cut it now. You have to make the announcement about you and Felicity being together, the baby shouldn't be the first thing everyone hears about. You owe it to Felicity."

"I know speedy, I've wanted to go public for months now, it's Felicity, she…."

"She really is too good for you. Always putting you first before herself."

Ollie rubbed his face, "I'm going to talk to her tonight, about going public. We don't have to have an announcement. We can just have public dates, be subtle about it."

Thea smiled at the compromise, "I'm sure she would like that. I mean, the press do have pictures of me and her on file already, so they know she's my friend too. We've been photographed shopping, eating, laughing, but it's been just us. So far, none of you and Lis, but maybe that's because she does her magic on line too?"

"Maybe, I don't ask her about these things."

"Whatever brother, oh my god!" she said excitedly, "I'm going to be an Aunt!"

* * *

><p>"I'm staying here," both of us are," Diggle told Felicity.<p>

Felicity had her arms crossed still seated at the back seat of the towncar.

"That's right. Both of us are staying here. Or better yet, both of us will be inside but occupying another booth," seeing Diggle's raised brow, "hey, I'm hungry too!" Roy pouted.

"Whatever, but you boys aren't joining our all girls lunch," Felicity told them firmly.

"Wouldn't dream of it, I wouldn't want to see Laurel's look when you finally tell her," Roy answered before he realized he gave himself away.

"Roy Harper!" Felicity's voice raised a decimal pitch.

"Thea texted me the news…congratulations by the way," Roy turned his torso so he could face her. "I hope the kid is more like you than…."

"Roy Harper, don't you dare finished that sentence."

Roy raised his arms in defeat, "Thea texted me, Oliver probably just told her the news, she just spits out one text after the other. Thanks by the way for that, I've been instructed to never leave your side and to guard you with my life," finishing off by rolling his eyes.

Felicity turned to Diggle apologetic, "Digg…."

Diggle waved a hand away, "Oliver already told me, that's why I'm here together with the little one…" Diggle said jokingly referring to Roy.

"Hey," Roy took offense.

"Seriously, Oliver was really stressing about you, so don't be surprised if you'll see more of me too," Diggle advised her.

Felicity huffed, "Diggle, there's no need for you to also be here. You need to be with Oliver, now that's he's CEO again, he may be more of a target."

"Oliver knows how to take care of himself. Besides, I totally agree with him."

Felicity rolled her eyes again, "I do not need a whole army protecting me. Do you realize, there are two assassins who probably can take out fifty people in a blink of an eye in there," referring to Sara and Nyssa, "for the love of God, I'm not that helpless."

"Nobody is saying you can't protect yourself Felicity. We are just all happy for you and Oliver. That baby inside of you, that's going to be my niece or nephew. I'm just doing my share as uncle."

Felicity prepared to get out by grabbing her bag but not before warning Roy, 'I hope you won't blurt out my good news Harper, I wanted to surprise the girls with this news."

Roy got out of the car to open her door and help her out, "I'll try my best," gesturing zipping his mouth.

* * *

><p>Laurel was running late, they had changed the venue from the coffee shop near her office to Big Belly Burger, which was further away. She had no doubt she would be the last one there knowing how prompt her sister and Nyssa was unless something major had happened. She also knew Felicity would be there on time despite the fact that she would be coming all the way from QC, Felicity didn't want to keep people waiting for her.<p>

She parked her car, then took a last look at her mirror, satisfied that her haggard eyes were hidden by make-up, stepped out of the car and walked the rest of the way toward the burger joint.

* * *

><p>"So they are just going to pretend that they don't know us and we don't know them, is that how this is going to work?" Sara asked as she eyed Diggle and Roy in another booth all the way near the entrance of the joint.<p>

Felicity rolled her eyes, "I told them to pretend they don't know us. That this was an all-girl's lunch. I told them to give us space."

"Felicity, there is something different about you," Nyssa searched her face.

Felicity balked. Leave it to trained assassins to notice miniscule differences. They were still waiting on Laurel and she did not want to preempt her announcement.

"So how are you and Ollie?" Sara smiled as she asked.

"We're fine. We're more than fine. Aside from him being all grrrr, he's become the perfect boyfriend," Felicity couldn't keep herself from smiling which Sara noticed.

Sara looked at Nyssa first then at Felicity, "Nyssa's right, there's something different about you. You have this glow about you…"

Felicity bit her lip and blushed which made Sara suspicious, "oh my god, tell me you're pregnant!"

"She's what!" Laurel almost shouted from where she was, twenty feet away from the other girls.

* * *

><p><strong>End of this chapter…sometimes our worst nightmares are manifested in our dreams. I will give Laurel a fitting ending during the next and last chapter of this story. <strong>

**I have a next two-shot already planned out after the conclusion of this one.**

**By the way, if you want to give me story prompts, this is the venue to do so since this will house my short-stories, one-shots and two-shots. Anything longer than 5 chapters, will be outside of this ASS universe.**

**So if you want longer stories, check out my other fics – SPOTLIGHT and EXPOSED all of which are all Olicity-centric.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: This goes out to Joisunny my twitter buddy who single-handedly lobbied for this chapter to be written. Sorry this took so long to update but I lost the first two chapters of this story on my laptop and I had to get my muse back for this story.  
><em>

_All LL shippers, I promise redemption is coming...I'm an Olicity shipper all the way and I make no apologies for it._

_Reactions are best via the following:_

_My twitter - lollipopsays_

_My tumblr - everythinglollipop_

_or just send me a message._

_I do not own anything, that makes me quite poor. But I'm richly surrounded by the love of the Olicity fandom so what more can a girl ask for!_

_If you care to know, today is my first year anniversary writing. I wrote my very first Fanfiction exactly a year ago. Now I have 15 stories. How time flies._

* * *

><p><strong><em>ARROW STORIES<em>**

**_Shades of Green - Chapter 3_**

"Laurel!" Felicity whipped around quickly noting Laurel's shocked face.

"You're pregnant, with Ollie's child?" Laurel asked her slowly not moving from her perched near the entrance of Big Belly Burger, just a few steps away from where Diggle and Roy where seated.

Felicity approached her in small steps, "Yes, yes I am. And yes, Oliver is the father. I'm sorry you have to here the news that way. I wanted to share the news during lunch but..." Felicity could only let the sentence fall off lamely.

"My fault," Sara interrupted the awkward face off between her sister and Felicity. "Why don't we all take a seat. Nyssa already ordered our lunch. Come on," saying the last bit to encourage her sister to move forward.

Laurel did as her sister requested, but she did so slowly. Still reeling from the news. Maybe her dream did mean something. That recurring nightmare she was having about those bad guys, her sister and her sisters friend Nyssa being shot, she and Felicity huddled together, she being the reason for everybody's life hanging by the thread.

Laurel looked around, it wasn't exactly the same restaurant, but the similarities with her dream were almost identical, scary identical.

Maybe she really needed to lay off the booze because she was really scaring even herself. Taking a deep breath to center herself, Laurel finally took the last empty seat between her sister and Felicity facing Nyssa.

"I guess, I should congratulate you. I, I was just caught by surprise. I shouldn't have been. I know you and Ollie have been together, so..." Laurel tried to say coherently still not quite recovered yet.

"Thank you Laurel," Felicity placed a hand on top of Laurel's for a few seconds before she let it go. They were not the hand holding type of friends and they probably never will be.

Thank God the waitress finally served their orders taking away another long awkward silent moment.

Sara and Nyssa wisely steered the next thirty minutes into other topics like places they had visited for "worked" related activities. While Felicity did her best to focus on the stories, she felt Laurel glance at her several times and it really was messing with her.

* * *

><p>Diggle had locked his phone after reading the tenth message in under an hour from Oliver.<p>

"That Oliver again?" Roy asked him knowingly.

"Yeah. Thea texts you, Oliver texts me. Would think that since they are aware that the both of us are together, and the both of them are together it would only take one person to text and the other could relay the message," Diggle finished shaking his head.

"Yeah well, tell that to Oliver, and maybe Thea. 'Coz i sure as hell am not going to be the one delivering that suggestion."

Diggle glanced over at the four women, "you think they are having fun?"

"Fun, sure. Usually, between your pretty face and sitting with four gorgeous ladies, I would chose to be the fifth wheel, but, I think, at least right now your pretty face is a million times more my scene.

"Careful Roy, I'm getting a little uncomfortable with you making innuendos about this face. Next you'll be commenting about my perfect physique."

"Ugh man, you know it was a joke right. Because that," pointing across the room to the four women, "is just depressing with a capital D."

"I don't know Roy. I had my suspicions about you before..."

Roy looked at Diggle for a few seconds trying to gauge if he was serious or kidding, Roy finally pouted and cross his arms, "I have a girlfriend!"

"So, it's not the first time a girl has been used to mask a mans real preference."

"I'm not talking about this any longer. We need a change of topic."

* * *

><p>"Is the target inside?"<p>

"That's affirmative, the target is inside," a voice responded into the comms.

"Get out of there now, you have two minutes or you will be toast just like the rest of them."

"Copy that. Just so that you know, there are roughly fifteen people inside, four are restaurant staff and the rest are customers. The target if over at the right wing of this place, most of the other customers are on the left side so there's a likely chance that at least some of them won't meet their maker today."

"Yeah, your two minutes are up."

"I'm already outside."

"Then here goes nothing."

* * *

><p>The fours girls were currently arguing about who would foot the bill for the lunch when a whistle like sound cut across the conversation making the ladies pause.<p>

Nyssa and Sara had locked eyes then quickly flipped over the table for added protection. Sara had a second to shout at John but Diggle had the same reflex the assassins had quickly pulling Roy to the side before all hell broke loose.

In the span of a few seconds, suffocating smoke was surrounding them and as Sara lifted her eyes she could see fire all around her.

Something was preventing her from moving around and pinning her on the ground. "Laurel, Nyssa, Felicity..." Sara called out weakly hoping no one else was seriously injured or even dead.

Somebody moaned. "Who's that?' Sara called out again.

"Sara?"

"Nyssa?"

"Yeah...my leg's broken but otherwise I'll survive. Felicity? Laurel?" Nyssa called out, coughing at the exertion as the smoke thickened even more around them.

"We have to get out of here," Sara told Nyssa.

"Sara?"

"John, is that you?"

"My arm's broken and I think a few ribs but I think I'll make it. Roy's out but I don't think it's anything serious. He's just taking a nice long nap," John informed Sara.

"We have to get out of here but I don't think I can move, something is on top of me. We still can't locate Laurel and Felicity."

"I'm making my way to you," Diggle told Sara.

Minutes later, Diggle had gotten Sara out of a solid part of the wall that had fallen over Sara and Nyssa had made her way over to them.

"Sara, Nyssa, get Roy out of here. I'll look for Felicity and Laurel." Diggle all but commanded.

"John, you can barely breathe. Are you sure," Sara asked Diggle.

"I have to find them," was Diggle's only response.

"Okay," Sara agreed knowing that despite Diggle's injuries and obvious discomfort he would indeed find Felicity and Laurel.

By the time Sara and Nyssa had pulled Roy out the first responders had arrived.

Sara had a few seconds to glance back at what remained of the facade of Big Belly Burger. From her perch, it would have been impossible for anyone to survive the blast. But so far, she, Nyssa, Roy and Diggle were alive, injured but alive. She was pulled into a waiting ambulance by medics she resisted several times until she finally saw a familiar face, "Dad!"

It took Detective Lance a few seconds before he finally located the voice calling out to him eyes widening as he first realized it was his daughter.

"Sara," Lance embraced his daughter while his eyes assessed her injuries.

"Laurel and Felicity are still inside, John Diggle is trying to locate them," she brushed aside the hand that was trying to put an oxegen mask on her.

"Sara, let the medics work on you. You and is that Nyssa I saw, you should both be in the hospital by now."

"Roy Harper was also with us," Sara informed him.

"Uhm, so I should give the Queen's a call then, they weren't with you?"

"No," coughing a bit before continuing, "Ollie and Thea were having lunch somewhere else I think, it was just us four girls and John Diggle and Roy Harper. But there were other guests and staff inside."

Her father nodded before he asked, "did you notice anything before all hell broke loose."

"I heard a whoosh then a loud explosion. It sounded like a rocket. We barely had time to duck for cover then all around was fire and smoke."

"Do you think..." her father started to ask.

"I don't know Dad, if it was a planned hit, any one of them, of us could have been the intended target. Laurel works as ADA, Felicity is associated with Oliver and they haven't really been hiding their relationship lately, or maybe the targets are Nyssa and me, we have our own kind of enemies. Maybe John or Roy or somebody else. There were other people inside aside from us."

Detective Lance nodded, "I'll get to it, in the meantime for my peace of mind please go have yourself checked in the hospital."

"Laurel.." Sara told her Dad.

"I'm going in as soon as you get your ass inside the ambulance."

"Oh and Dad," Sara called out as her father was preparing to trot toward the scene of the devastation.

"Felicity's pregnant."

Lance exhaled heavily rubbing his face, "Queen's? Just what I needed. I'll call Queen right now."

* * *

><p>Oliver pulled out his phone from his pocket while he was still smiling from his sisters teasing and frowned as he registered Detective Lance's name on his caller ID.<p>

"Detective."

"Queen, we have a situation," Lance just said it as straight forward as he could as he entered what was once the entrance of the Big Belly Burger.

Oliver immediately tensed this was noticed by his sister.

"Who," at the tone of Lance he knew it was someone they both personally knew.

"There was an explosion in Big Belly Burger. The place is a mess. Sara, Nyssa and Roy Harper are being transported to the hospital as we speak, they have minor injuries but they'll live. As I understand it from Sara, John Diggle your bodyman is still inside searching for Laurel and Felicity."

Oliver stood up and threw a few dollars on the table before he directed Thea to follow him out almost running as he continued to get information from Lance, "I just entered the structure, hold on," as Lance was stopped by firefighters and first responders from further entering, Lance showed his ID and was immediately passed through were he spotted John Diggle with both Laurel and Felicity.

"I see John Diggle in front of me, hang on I'll get some information," Lance told Oliver who was already racing across town with Thea in a sports car.

Having spotted Lance, Diggle prepared to update him but Lance put up a hand to indicate that he would put his phone on speaker mouthing Oliver which was understood by Diggle, "Detective, Oliver," John acknowledged both before he continued, "Laurel has some broken ribs that's all I could gather at the moment, she regained consciousness for about a minute before she passed out again. Felicity hasn't regained consciousness yet, Oliver," Diggle paused before he continued, "she has a rebar protruding from her chest, I don't just how severe her injuries are at the moment. the EMTs are working on her."

EMTs were already working on Laurel, they were getting ready to transport her to the hospital but the EMT was still trying to assess Felicity's injuries before they could give the go ahead for her to be moved in the meantime, they were clearing space for a firefighter to saw of the rebar from the cement so it would be easier for her to be moved once they were given the all clear.

"Diggle..." both Oliver and Lance could hear the pain and question in Oliver's voice.

"Oliver, the EMTs are doing everything they can. I told them about the baby," John's eyes locked with Lance for a second and from what he surmised Lance had had not been surprised by the announcement, either Lance was that perceptive or Sara had told him before he had entered.

"Diggle..." Oliver repeated.

"Oliver we are being asked to move as they are about to separate the rebar from the cement block."

* * *

><p>Oliver and Thea had finally arrived at the scene and it had taken Oliver physically assaulting a police officer assigned at crowd control before Lance had reached him to escort him and Thea over the yellow line. Oliver was making a beeline for the inside of the burger place before he was being pulled back by Lance and pointed to the stretcher that was being loaded inside an ambulance.<p>

Oliver had missed seeing Felicity as the patient in the gurney since it was surrounded by about ten people but Oliver had pushed everyone including the EMTs who were holding on to the tubes and other medical gadgets attached to Felicity so he could see Felicity himself.

Diggle was suddenly by his side, another medic carefully aiding him, "she hasn't woken up yet."

Oliver gave Diggle about a two second glance to take note of his injuries before his attention was back on Felicity.

"Oliver," Diggle once more hesitated before he continued, "Laurel regained consciousness for about a minute, she said before the pile of cement and bars fell that Felicity had pushed her of to the side effectively getting the brunt of the ceiling falling on top of her. Laurel said Felicity saved her life."

Oliver's jaw locked and his hands folded into fists at the news looking beyond Diggle to notice Lance had followed him and overheard what Diggle had told him too.

"Are you coming?' the EMT asked Oliver Queen. It was all over the news that Oliver Queen's new main squeeze was the woman being loaded into the ambulance therefore the EMT didn't hesitate to ask.

Oliver nodded, jumping in before turning to Thea who said she'll be alright to follow reaching out her palm to her brother to ask for the car keys. Oliver turned to Diggle next, "you have to have yourself checked too."

"I'm going," Diggle promised Oliver, "I'll see you in the hospital," before turning to Thea, "Roy was brought in by an ambulance earlier just for routine check, he didn't have any major injuries.

"Okay," was all Thea could say still in a daze at everything that had happened.

Diggle finally turned to Detective Lance nodding before he allowed himself to be escorted to another ambulance.

* * *

><p><em><strong>one word...exhausting.<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry to leave you guys with a heartbreaking cliff hanger the last time. I hope this chapter hits you right where it should, straight through the heart.**

**Unlike my other fics, this one contains Laurel. I've said it before and I will say it again, it's hard for me to write Laurel because I'm not really passionate about her character in Arrow and I am and will always be an OLICITY shipper for life.**

**But, everyone deserves redemption, and this is chapter is going to be Laurel centric as much as it is also about Olicity. I hope you give this chapter a chance.**

**I appreciate shout outs eg. comments and reviews and if you have the time i hope you can send me some love in any of the following:**

**twitter: lollipopsays**

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**archive our own (A03): lollipopdiaries**

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own anything Arrow related. I just come up with AU stories that are based on characters that are part of our favorite show Arrow.<strong>

* * *

><p>S<strong>HADES OF GREEN<strong>

**Chapter 4**

Oliver had been pacing the hospital floor for about four hours now.

Thea had joined her brother about two hours ago after she had been to see for herself that her boyfriend Roy was indeed mostly unharmed and being treated for minor injuries. Thea was sure this was largely due to the fact that John Diggle had been with Roy at the time of the explosion and it had been his quick thinking that had prevented Roy from getting more injuries.

Knowing this, Thea had made the rounds to check on the their other friends because she was sure that her brother would never willingly leave Felicity's side, not unless he himself was assured and he believed that she was out of immediate danger.

Thea had checked on John Diggle whose injuries were also now treated, a woman was beside him, between the two of them Thea could make out whispered words of assurances being given.

Thea next went to check on Sara, Laurel and Nyssa. She wasn't surprised to see Detective Lance also pacing. She caught his eye and he stopped to give her the updates.

"Laurel and Nyssa have been transferred to the recovery room then they will be transferred to regular rooms. The doctor said he wanted to keep them for observation for at least a night before he gives the all clear. Sara is still in surgery but the nurse who came out earlier to give me an update said they didn't expect any complications."

Thea nodded at the news now able to breath a little easier with the news.

Quentin looked over to the far side of the hall eying Oliver Queen still pacing restlessly. Sara and Felicity currently where in opposite end operating rooms, despite Lance's preoccupation with Sara's status, Lance could not help but notice Queen at the other side.

"How's your brother doing?"

"Not well, as you can see. We still have no news on Felicity," Thea answered him solemnly.

"No news on the baby too?"

"None."

* * *

><p>It had taken a total of six hours of operating time and two flatlines until Felicity was finally declared out of danger and transported to ICU where she was to remain for a few more days as was policy for her type of case.<p>

Oliver had of course parked himself in the ICU with Felicity.

He was holding her hand in his with his other hand on her tummy gently rubbing it.

The doctor had told him she would need complete bed rest during the next two to three months not only because of her near fatal injury but because the baby in her womb was hanging on by a thread. The only way the baby would survive the trauma that happened was to ensure that during the next critical months it wouldn't be exposed to more trauma.

He was going to insist Felicity follow thru with what the doctor ordered although he suspected she wouldn't really put up a fight with her exile to their bedroom during the next few months because the baby was also her priority.

Felicity's recovery would take sometime. She had broken the first three ribs and bruised two more. The rebar thankfully had penetrated between the ribs and had not hit anything major.

He continued to run his calloused thumb across her smooth fingers more to reassure himself that she indeed was alive and on the road to recovery more than anything else.

He had almost lost her before their life together even began. He was blaming himself for not insisting more that he accompany her to her lunch meeting with the girls instead, he had let her have her way.

Felicity and the baby were now the most important people in his life. Much as he knew he had virtually no control over what had happened, he still could not let himself feel less guilty for not being there when his family needed him the most.

He looked up to see Felicity's face, she was still pale but at least she had more color on her face. What he wouldn't give to be in her place.

For the first time, his instinct was to stand his ground and never leave Felicity's side. Usually, he would be front and center as the Arrow already after the culprits who had bombed Big belly Burger and had almost taken not only the life of his family but that of his closest friends. But not this time. This time, he had stayed with his family. His family.

Diggle and Roy had taken the lead this time. Together with Lance and the entire police force, they had pulled their intel together. Diggle had reported to him earlier that they had solid intel on who was behind the bombing. With Diggle still nursing a broken arm and injured leg, the SWAT unit of the police had taken the lead and been successful in capturing the henchmen who had sung like canaries when interrogated.

It turns out none of them were the intended targets. They really had been at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was someone else, also a customer of the burger place who was the intended target. Unfortunately for that person, he was one of five people who had died.

* * *

><p>Someone knocked on the glass pane in the ICU grabbing Oliver's attention away from Felicity.<p>

Laurel. Oliver saw. Oliver's first glimpse of Laurel after what happened brought very mixed emotions inside of him. On one hand, he saw that she had injuries herself, much more minor but injuries nonetheless and was equally a victim of circumstances much like Felicity and all of his other friends.

On the other hand, he couldn't get pass what Diggle had told him about what Laurel herself had said. Felicity had knowingly pushed Laurel out of harms way at the expense of her and their unborn child's safety. Again, it wasn't really Laurel's fault, if he were to point blame then he should be angry with Felicity for the act. And Oliver definitely was going to give her a mouthful about that when the time was right.

Seeing Laurel up and about, that was just what was unsettling to Oliver.

He knew that Laurel had been less than accepting of his relationship with Felicity. He was aware that sometimes Laurel still had continued to give Felicity a hard time. Condescending words, raised eyebrows and looks. It wasn't as often as before, but it was happening.

Oliver hadn't really said anything because Felicity hadn't mentioned it. It was Diggle and Roy who had separate talks with him. During that lunch with his sister, Thea had called him out on that too. He knew he told his sister that Felicity was alright with it. But really, he didn't know because he didn't ask. He hadn't bothered to even defend Felicity against Laurel's inconsistent behavior.

So maybe Oliver was channeling the frustrations of his non actions in defending Felicity against Laurel on Laurel. But truthfully, Laurel was the last person he wanted to see right now.

"Hey," Laurel said as she stepped inside the ICU.

Oliver inhaled deeply before he turned to face her and acknowledged her presence.

"Laurel."

Laurel straightened her shoulders as if to gain some confidence for a conversations she had dreaded, "Ollie, how is she?"

Laurel had taken three steps into the room but no further. But from where she stood it was heartbreaking to see so many tubes and medical gadgets attached to Felicity. True, they weren't really close, much of that was her fault because had Felicity had her way, they would have the easy friendship that she enjoyed with her sister Sara and Nyssa.

No, Laurel knew it was her fault that their remained that invisible wall between them. It wasn't all about just Laurel still hanging on to the hope that Ollie and her would still end up together, true love and all. It was also about how easily and seamlessly Felicity had carved her space into the lives of those who surrounded Ollie, even being BFFs with Sara and Nyssa. In a lot of ways, Laurel was jealous of Felicity. Where Felicity was, that could have been her, it should be her place.

That was part of the reason why she still drank occasionally, her coping mechanism. To people who didn't really know her she was well put together. A successful professional, Assistant District Attorney, beautiful, the public perceived her as someone else.

But the people who really knew her, her father, her sister and yes, Ollie and his team. They saw the real Laurel. She really wasn't that bad. She got along and even went out of her way to have conversations and get to know the other people in Ollie's life, she just couldn't warm up to Felicity the way that she could with the others.

Maybe, if she had accepted her place and Felicity's place in the life of Ollie then maybe things would be different. As Laurel looked at Felicity then back at Ollie and how his whole being was focused on Felicity, she finally understood it. And it hit her like an epiphany that she had to suck a breath in.

He wasn't her Ollie. He hasn't been for a long time. Not since he came back. Oh, they had tried, both Ollie and her, but in the end Ollie realized it sooner than she had. He wasn't the same man anymore.

The man Laurel was looking at. Gazing so forlornly at Felicity wasn't Ollie Queen, the young playboy who cruised thru life. He was Oliver, Oliver Queen. A man who grew up from his island experience to become someone else, something else.

Gone was the carefree, irresponsible man, who despite saying he loved her, repeatedly cheated on her. No she wasn't his one true love, maybe she had been a great love, one of many, in Ollie's journey to find his one true love.

Her Ollie was gone. Now, there was only Oliver. Oliver who belonged to someone else as much as that someone else belonged to Oliver. And Laurel wasn't that woman. That woman was Felicity Smoak.

Everyone had seen how right Felicity was for Oliver. Everyone. John Diggle had been the first. Then Sara Lance, Nyssa al Ghul and Roy Harper. Her father. Even Ollie's own sister, who had been one of her strong supporters when there had been an Ollie and Laurel romance, Thea had also seen, accepted and loved Felicity as her brother's true love.

Finally, she saw it. Saw it all. If she didn't believe it before, she should now with inevitability and finality. A man wouldn't be so lost, so devastated, so utterly distraught if he hadn't been so deeply in love. Her Ollie was gone. Before her was Oliver. And Oliver was not and will never be hers.

It was time to embrace that reality and move on.

"Ollie...Oliver,"Laurel finally took a step forward. Her hand automatically lifted to place itself on his shoulder before she stopped herself and pulled her hand back down.

It took a few more seconds, maybe a full minute before Oliver acknowledged her again exhaling noisily, "Laurel..."

"Oliver, I know now isn't a good time. I won't stay long. I just wanted to see how Felicity is doing."

Without tearing his eyes away from Felicity Oliver answered, "she still has to wake up. The doctors said its normal. But she will be confined to bed rest for the next two to three months. She suffered internal injuries which thank god weren't as worst as everyone first thought."

"That's good to hear...Oliver. And the baby?"

"That's why Felicity needs the bed rest outside of her own injuries. The baby is safe but another trauma could..."

Laurel finally lifted her hand to place on his shoulder and squeezed it, "Felicity is strong. She's the strongest woman I know. Both Felicity and your baby will be alright. Your family will be alright."

Oliver finally tore his gaze away from Felicity to look at Laurel for a few seconds as if searching for something. Laurel nodded to him and that was all it took. Both Laurel's telling words and her nod told Oliver that she finally accepted a truth that she had blindly refused to acknowledge before.

Oliver stood up to face Laurel fully giving her a nod in return before he embraced her.

Laurel immediately wrapped her arms around Oliver, for the last time recalling that he had once been her Ollie before she stepped out of the embrace.

Laurel looked at Felicity's sleeping form once again before she returned her eyes to Oliver, "take care of her. Take care of your family. You'll make a great husband and father despite your fears now that you have the right woman beside you."

Oliver could see that Laurel meant every word.

"Thank you," Oliver told her sincerely.

Laurel just gave him a half smile before she stepped back further and turned to walk out of the room swallowing hard as she reached the hallway to prevent tears from falling. It was the end of a chapter of her life. A defining time when she was younger, much younger. Now, it was time for her to rediscover herself and her path.

She was Laurel Lance, she was surrounded by people who were strong in spirit and willpower. She was equally strong, like them.

She would just need to find her inner strength and focus on rebuilding herself first.

With a new pep in her step, she turned a corner making her way to the room her sister was currently in. As she opened the door, she saw the two people she loved most in an embrace and smiled, "hey, is there room for me?"

Both Sara and Quentin Lance, her sister and father gestured for her to get inside the circle so they could resume their embrace with her now included.

As Laurel felt the warmth of love surround her, she felt light and truly happy for the first time in a long time.

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><p><strong>Ummm...THE END.<br>**

**I hope I did justice to Laurel Lance. Again, i'm not a fan but I don't hate her. She was written that way by the Arrow writers.**

**This story is dedicated the the single most passionate supporter of this fic, Joisunny! I hope I did you proud...but I have to move on. Can't have this heavy feeling everytime I write a chapter and this story really drained me.**

**I'm going back to my fluffs - My Secret Admirer, Exposed and The New Bratva Captain. **


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is sorry is done, completed, finished...i don't know how else I can say it BUT for you fellow pinoy OLICITier JOISUNNY i will do an EPILOGUE.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow because if I did I would have stopped dangling maybes so long ago and have Oliver and Felicity make little babies already.**

**Any wisecrack comments can be made via the following:**

**twitter: lollipopsays**

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**or you can check out my stories in Archive Of Our Own (AO3) under the same name lollipopdiaries.**

* * *

><p><strong>SHADES OF GREEN<strong>

**EPILOGUE**

_FAST FORWARD TO FOUR YEARS AFTER...  
><em>

_roughly around Arrow Season 7 anyone?_

"You're staying home tonight?" Felicity asked her husband as they leaned on each other watching little Robert Thomas Smoak Queen or Robbie gleefully play with his special edition Thomas Train Set that occupied 3/4 of the kids playroom. Moira's former home office.

"Not tonight," Oliver told his wife before giving her a soft peck on the cheek and rubbing a hand on her swollen tummy.

Felicity leaned in further as Oliver wrapped his hand tighter around his wife. Both their feet on top of a coffee table as they sat on a very comfortable couch looking at little Robbie.

Oliver had set the train set, complete with all the rails, the station stops, and whatever went with them about a year ago. Robbie wasn't quite as interested in the trains as his father was at that time but Oliver had insisted it was for little Robbie.

Yeah, Felicity knew her husband better. Oliver loved the train set. He had the wistful smile on his face, telling her more than once that it had been one of the very first bonds that his father and he had when he was small.

Oliver, John Diggle and even Roy Harper all spend many weekend afternoons playing with that train set while the girls - Sara, Nyssa, Thea and Lyla who was now married to Diggle bonded in the kitchen.

John had his own little one, a one and a half old replica of him who when visiting with his parents would follow around little Robbie. Yup, Andy Diggle, that's the name of John's son and Robbie were buddies even at a tender age.

"What are you thinking about?" Oliver asked his wife as he caught her faraway look.

Felicity glanced back at her husband before rubbing her tummy again, "just thinking that in a week or less I will be able to hold our little girl in my arms." Giving her husband a silly grin, "you're going to spoil her the way you spoil Robbie aren't you?"

Oliver shifted so he could look at his wife fully, "well, she deserves spoiling. Just like her mother," Oliver leaned in to give his wife a tender kiss before he shifted away so he could bend down, lift Felicity's shirt and kiss her swollen tummy whispering, "Meghan Olivia Queen, i can't wait to see you," before he sealed his statement with a kiss onto the tummy of his wife.

Felicity carded her fingers over the strands of hair of her husband loving how much Oliver had in a matter of just over three years changed from an emotionless man to someone who wore his heart on his sleeve were his family was concerned.

A bundle of energy squeezed between Oliver's head and her tummy, Felicity couldn't help but laugh happily at the feel of small very wet kisses her tummy was being peppered with. Little Robbie had once caught his father kissing her tummy and Oliver had explained to his son that it was his way of saying 'i love you' to his daughter who was still growing inside mommy. Being the son who was showered with hugs and kisses all around, little Robbie had quickly followed his fathers footsteps and whenever he could, he would trap his mothers tummy with his chubby little hands so she would pause and let him pepper her tummy with little kisses.

Robbie was going to be the perfect older brother to baby Meg.

Oliver finally lifted his son, playfully tickling him earning a gurgle of happiness from his son.

Oliver repositioned his family around him in the couch. He pulled Felicity as closely as he could to his side before he plopped Robbie on his lap closing his eyes for a few seconds and letting out a heavy breath.

"This is why i want to stay home most nights now." His arms circled around his family. "Diggle shares the same thoughts now too. He had Lyla, little Andy and with Lyla being four months pregnant he will have his hands full pretty much."

"The City has been mostly peaceful since we dealt with the League and Slade. It's been relatively not so larger than life villains lately. So that helps. I mean you work hard as it is, meeting after meeting since we got Queen Consolidated back."

"For you, our future, our family, for Thea and my legacy, I will work as hard as I can. Having a genius wife by my side who can talk circles around investors helps a lot. One thing I will never be able to fully grasp is the gibber jabber of the tech speak."

"I guess you will have to keep me around forever then," Felicity told him playfully.

Oliver pulled Robbie off his lap since the boy was becoming restless being ignore by his parents and happily trotted back to his train set as his father lifted his mother to his now empty lap, "Forever and the next life, Felicity," he was just about to lean in for a kiss again before a doorbell interrupted him making him groan with frustration.

"Everybody decent?" his sisters voice could be heard before they even heard footsteps walking in their direction.

As the door opened to the playroom, little Robbie was first to spot his auntie Thea and torpedoed himself into her arms.

"Robbie, be careful!" said the voice behind Thea.

Oliver pulled his wife off his lap as they both rose to welcome his sister and his brother-in-law. Wow, wasn't something Oliver was quite used to yet but it being all of three months since his sister and one of his closest and trusted friends had gotten married, he should by this time have gotten used to it. But in his eyes, Thea would always be his very little baby sister.

"It's fine Roy," Thea immediately assured her husband. "Robbie's not that heavy."

"Yeah but..." Roy's voice trailed off as he was silenced by a look. His wife could be scary if she needed to be.

Thea turned to her brother and her sister-in-law, "Ollie," embracing her brother before doing the same with Felicity but this time hugging her a few seconds longer then bending down to kiss her tummy, "hello Meggie!"

'What's bring you here so late," Oliver inquired surprise by the rather late visit, it was pushing nine o'clock in the evening, "is there a problem that needs to be taken cared of?"

Of course her brothers first instinct was trouble or a problem was what brought them all the way to the Queen Mansion, when Thea lived across town, on the top floor of a very high end condominium to be precise,"calm down brother, can't we just drop by because we miss you?"

Oliver shrugged, "i don't know, did you miss us, me? It's just that since you two got married you've made the lamest excuses so you can leave our sight and now you're telling us, me, that you miss us?"

Thea rolled her eyes, "fine. we have some news..."

"And it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Oliver quirked a brow at his sister. Much he loved his sister, family time was family time, Oliver just wanted to be selfish sometimes. He just wanted wife and his children with him, just them. After all, things could have turned out completely different almost four years ago. He could have lost his Felicity and his unborn son.

His sister and his friends couldn't really blame him if from that moment on he never let Felicity out of his range of sight. The moment he she had left the hospital, he demanded that she make an honest man out of him. He couldn't put that ring around Felicity's finger soon enough. Had it not been for his meddling sister and her grand wedding ideas, he could have married his Felicity the day she left the hospital.

"Well, i could...but I didn't really want to wait a second longer..." Thea answered her brother truthfully.

"Well out with it," he sold her impatiently wrapping an arm around Felicity again to ground him as he was getting impatient with his sister already.

Roy and Thea shared a look, doing that eye talking thing until Thea finally sighed. After all the bravado, now that they had Felicity and Oliver's attention, both of them were suddenly quiet.

"Well..." Oliver said again.

Felicity placed his hand on her tummy so she could distract him from his obvious impatience, "come on out with it. Or do you want us to guess. Let me see, have you decided to move back here but thought we wouldn't want you guys here so you wanted to break it to us slowly," looking for a sign that she was right from either Thea or Roy, "no? maybe you decided you were getting tired of Verdant and wanted to sell the Club? Or...are you moving away...as in outside of Starling City?" Felicity narrowed her eyes, "that's it isn't it."

Seeing Felicity's face drop Thea immediately stepped in and denied it, "no, no...we are not moving away. You are the only family we have so nope, never moving away. Even when Roy and I have our own little one, we would still chose to set up roots here in Starling. You know, I have a nephew and I'll soon have a niece in maybe under a week, it would be nice to have cousins roughly the same age..."

"Wait, are you..." Felicity interrupted Thea's not so subtle lead on.

"Oh my God!" Thea and Felicity both shrieked attracting little Robbie attention away from his train set again as Oliver gave Roy a narrowed look for a few seconds making Roy take a step or two back before Oliver finally broke out a smile.

"Come here Roy," because Roy still hesitated, Oliver took the last few steps to bro hug him before he turned around to grab his sister giving her a monster hug. Soon after, a little body inserted itself between the siblings once again gurgling with laughter.

Oliver easily lifted his son before he told him in a serious but quiet voice, "guess what buddy, you are having a little cousin soon. You get to protect not only one but two little ones. You gotta work on those muscles soon, Andy and you will be on protection duty."

"Hey, what am I chopped liver? I can protect my kid," Roy inserted.

Oliver pointed to his son, "back up never hurt before."

Felicity and Thea embraced again.

"When do you plan to inform the gang?" Felicity asked Thea and Roy.

"We called every one over for Sunday lunch, here. You guys don't mind right?"

"Everyone?" Felicity asked Thea excited.

"Yup everyone! The Diggles, Sara and Nyssa confirmed they will be here, Capt. Lance and even Laurel said she was intending to fly in this weekend from wherever she is anyway. Oh and she specifically said to not tell her Dad she was flying in, she wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh my...is she?" Felicity asked Thea excitedly.

Thea nodded her head vigorously.

"Oh! wow! I was actually teasing her just last week when she called."

"What are both of you talking about?" Oliver looked from his sister to his wife and back. Oliver was never okay with being out of the loop, quickly checking if Roy was as clueless as he was.

"Hey, don't know what they're talking about too," Roy raised his arms defending himself.

Felicity and Thea both rolled their eyes. "Serves you right for not joining our weekly skype sessions with Laurel."

'I distinctly remember being kicked out a few months back from one of your skype's with Laurel. So it's not my fault I keep my distance from your girl talk," Oliver defended himself.

"It's called girl talk for a reason. Really, I haven't seen Laurel as happy since...never. She's happy. Traveling the world and being a UN aid worker and defending human rights in the international courts," Thea said smiling.

Felicity rubbed her tummy and started to talk to her baby, "Meg honey, let's try not to steal the spotlight from Auntie Thea and Auntie Laurel this weekend. We can wait a few more days after, right baby?"

* * *

><p>Little Meghan Olivia Smoak Queen was born Saturday evening.<p>

Yes, Thea and Laurel had time, barely, but they got to tell everyone their surprises. Thea and Roy had been given a round of congratulations for the bundle of joy that was to come in eight months time.

Laurel Lance even had time to introduce her fiancee not only to her father but to all her friends. The same ones gathered around her at the Queen Mansion. The Diggles, the Harpers, her sister Sara and Nyssa, her Dad and Oliver, Felicity and little Robbie. The guys even had enough time to give her fiancee the evil eye and 'the talk' before Felicity quietly whispered to Oliver that her water had broken.

Then all hell had broken loose.

Looking around the hospital room that had Felicity in bed cradling her new bundle of joy, Laurel was struck by how emotional she was that moment.

This was her family. Looking around the room and how much things had changed in the span of four years. Her friend were all married now with families of their own. Her sister and Nyssa had stayed strong and had even tied the knot a year ago.

She leaned back into a very solid chest, arms immediately wrapped around her. Yes, she was truly bursting with happiness. In a few months time, she would be getting married to the man who had completed her. She no longer felt restless, alone, lacking...no. She had many great loves, Tommy and Oliver among them. But, she was right to find her own path because in braving the unknown, she found her one true love.

**THE END**

**...really :)**


End file.
